Photographs of Railway Postal Clerks in Railway Post Offices (RPOs) are uncommon. Clerk identification rarely occurs when a picture does exist. These front and back views are remarkable, combined with the identification of station, train, and engine crew members. This card is stated to be circa 1907, depicting the loading of cans containing goldfish at Woodbine, Maryland. These cans are being transported via baggage or express, not as mail shipments. This is likely a northbound train heading to Lancaster where connections were made with other Pennsylvania Railroad mainline trains.
The LANCASTER & FREDERICK RPO began on August 1, 1882, which was a transition from the LANCASTER & FREDERICK AGENT. The route was discontinued on August 15, 1948.
The 1930 Census indicates that he was still a Railway Postal Clerk. By that year, he was 64 years old. No occupation is shown in the 1940 Census. He died at age 84 on June 3, 1951.
A 1908 LANCASTER & FREDERICK RPO schedule appears below.
Railway Mail Service schedules do not include all stations and times for a route. A Frederick Branch timetable from an OFFICIAL GUIDE OF THE RAILWAYS provides a more complete view of services. Slight time differences are evident between the 1907 public schedule and the 1908 mail route timetable. Trains 601 and 603 are the only two trains departing from Woodsboro, Maryland, for Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with a 21-1/2 feet RPO apartment. Train 601 departed Woodsboro at 9:28 AM while train 603 made its scheduled stop at 3:23 PM.
